Change-speed and clutching mechanism



C H STRONG CHANGE SPEEQAND c Lu'TcHING MEcHANlsM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31| |919. y

Patented sept.y 5

3 SHEETS-SHEET I C. H. STRONG. CHANGE SPEED AND CLUTCHING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3l. 19|9,

Patented Sept. A5, 19212. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ci H. smoNG. cHANGE sPEn AND cLuTcHING MEcHA'msM. APPLICATION FIITED OCT. 3l. IBIS.

1,428,346. Patenwasept. 5, 1922.

. Heir 3. n

3 SHEETS-S I To @ZZ 'whom t may concern.'

Patented Sept. 5, 1922.

CHANGE-SPEED AND OLUTCHING Meenemen- Application -lled October 31, i919. Serialv No;v 334,801.

Be it known that I, CHARLES STRONG, a subject of the'King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in or Relating to Change Speed and Clutehing Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a change speed gear and clutching mechanism, of the type wherein differential gearing i is employed throughV which power is transmitted from the driving shaft to the driven shaft.

The object of the invention vis to kprovide a simple and eflicient apparatus of the type in question wherein varyingspeeds between zero and a maximum equivalent tothe speed of the driving shaft maybe obtained with facility. 1 i

According to the .invention VI provide upon the engine shaft Or the driven. shaft, and keyed Or otherwise attached so as to rotate therewith, a bevel wheel or the like forming one member of an epicyclic or differential gear and I mount upon the same shaft 'so that it is slidable thereon, butr rotatabley therewith, one half of. a clutch of the disc or plate type. f

Another bevel wheel,` vforming yanother member of the differential gearis mounted freely upon the shaft and has 'connected thereto the other half -of the clutch, in such a way that by sliding the first mentioned' member of the clutch 4in an appropriate manner the second member and with it the second portion of the differential gear may' be driven at a speed which gradually increases from zero, until the two parts of the clutch and the two parts of thexdifferential gear rotate as a whole. v

For transmitting power from the diferv ential, various means may be adopted.

In the usual way I provideupon an annulus or the like planet pinionsadapted to mesh with the bevel wheels of the differ-v ential: the annulus being formed as orprovided on the outer'periphery witha pulley wheel, sprocket wheel or thelilre formed in two parts suitably bolted together for driv- 1 ing` the belt or cha-in.

In some cases 1n placey of providing the planet pinions or an annulus'I may. suitably carry these upon the belt or chain' itselff In the preferred construction-I provide. spring means tending to pu'shfthe parts of HENRY' counter shaftgear.

thedifferential to be effected at half speed."

In place of providing a beltor chain drive, the apparatus may be modified for use'V asa WCE# v And in order that my invention-maybe l` better understood, I will-nowproceed to describel 'the same'with reference-to the accompanying drawings' in which :-l -Y i Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the 'whole device.y

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a modi- `fied form` in which `frictionE gear is used in place of the bevel' wheels-and pinions.

Fig. 3 shows an axial section of the differ; ential according to a modified form.v i

Fig. 4L is a plan of the chain for use with-` this form of the differential.

Fig. 5 is aside elevation'fof-a single link of the chain.y n l l Fig. 6 shows a modified form of the ap-V paratus for use asa counter shaft gear. Fig. 7 shows a' further modification hereafter referred to. v f Y lSimilar symbols ofre'ferenee are employed' to denote the same parts` in all the views leferringto'Fig'.l l, a isthe engine@ or otherdriving shaft, upon which is'mounted so as to be rotatable therewith the bevel wheel o, forming one'member of the dier ential gear. v

The opposite member@ of the said gear is mounted loosely upon the shaft'a, so that it carrying the axles e of the planet pinions y and forming a belt pulley. f,

The shaft a is provided Witha squared'v vportion vat 7L. cl is a sleeve provided with-a 'square hole onthe interior adapted tofitand v' slide on `thesquared portion lh of theshaft.'

` and c to run solid.,

Suitably formed with or carried by the sleeve 7c is a disc m which carries one halt of a plate clutch p being the friction plates and g the supports. 7" isa libre o-r other suitable pad., 8 is another discvadapte'd to rotate loosely on the shaft tand with the bevel wheel c of the differential. rThe disc s is formed with an outer `annular flange t into which the plate r can slide snugly vso that the parts r, s and t form the casing of the clutchv p1 are friction plates carried. by the second member of the vclutch and g1 are supports, whilst r1 is another libre or other -pad or block. fw. is a sleeve formed -oiconnected to a disc bolted to the disc m by bolts e. 10 is a angeon the sleeve w, for the reception lot' an operating iork or the like. 11 is a helical ycompression spring surrounding the sleeve and located within the sleeve w.` 12 is a cap adapted to.l carry the end oi the spring 11 .and to slide within thesleeve 'fw and formed or provided with a nut 13 screwing on to a screw threaded portion 14, of the shaft a.

vThe operation will be readily understood.

`lt to be observed that the tendency of the spring 11 is to Apush the disc in towards the rightin Fig. 1, thus rcausing the friction plates p and p1 to be tightly 4pressed Abetween the blocks r, r1 causing t-he discs "m and and consequently the two bevel wheels Under these -ci-icunistances the belt pulley 'formed 'b v 'the plates g1 and g2 iscarried round by the bevel pinions c at the same speed and the transmission is at a maximum;

We will suppose that by the operation ot' the hand lever or pedal, the sleeve /w is drawntowards the lett in Fig. 1.

As the said sleeve is drawn towards the left, the friction between 'the .pla-tes p and p1 diminishes enabling the discl s to slip more or lessand consequently the bevel wheel c 'is driven with less velocity than the bevel w'heel enabling` the #planet `pinions to rotate more or less and diminishing the rate of drive in the ordinary well known` manner` until finally when the friction be-v tween the plates p and p1 is entirely removed, the bevel wheel c is driven by the planet pinions d in the reversed'irectionand pulley is not driven.

ln some cases l may provide a band brake on the outside ot the .casing t of Ythe friction clutch.. or other suitable braking means, so that the rotation of the plate `s can ybe stopped thus locking the bevel wheel c from revolution and causing the pulley to vbe driven at 'half speed through the planet pinions the plates-p and p1 zbein-g` held out of contact.

ln the construction shown in Fig. 2, the bevel pinions 7 are replaced by friction'ineinbers fi which are preferably made ot'metah' hard wood or any other material suitable for the purpose. They preferably have the shape or' a truncated cone, or ot a ball or of any other convenient =shape, so as to frictionally engage the surfaces of the friction wheels i?) and. c. These wheels are each preferably formed with ran annular recess f2 at the bottom ot which is a lining of hard rubber or other suitable material. When the members f1 are formed of rotatable balls or the like, the recesses f3 are preferably concave in cross section as shown in 2, in dotted lines f4 representing the ball or other circular member.

.Referring now to the modification illus. trated at Figs. 3 to 5, in this case the two members Zi and c yconstituting the primary bevels of the differential 'are mounted close together the part I) 'rotating with the shatt a and the part c being free to rotate thereon.

The chain for use with this form of apparatus is illustrated at Figs. 4r and 5. Each of the links comprises a frame 111, pivotally connected by means of lugs 15, to the next link. Each of these frames-carries a spindle or pin 16, lupon which are mounted alternate thicknesses ot' leather and rubber or other suitable material. 17 and 18. These :pieces of leather and rubber are of disc shape and so formed that they constitute in combination a truncated cone, as seen clearly at Fig. 5. 19 and 2O are steel washers at the ends ot the cone.

lVith this arrangement yit will be seen that the planet 'members of the epicyclic or differential :gear have simply been transferred to the chain, the operation remaining in other respects the same as already described.

Referring to F 6, which illustrates Lthe application of the invention Vas a 'counter'- shaft gear, in this case the shaft a yprovided witlra squared portion A21. and is screw threaded at the end 22. r'lhe bevel wheel b forming one 'member of the differential is formed integral with or attached to a sleeve 23, fitting on the squared portion 21 of the shaft t and a vnut 24 secures the whole in position.

The counter shaft carries a cup shaped fitting 26, which formsan anniilus in which are mounted the spindles or spigots e of the vplanet .pinions f. i

The other `details of the friction clutch and the operating "mechanism .may be 'the same as `those described lwith reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

'In the further modification shown at Fig. 7, the spigots 28 o'tthe lplanet pinion f take the form of bolts passing'through 'the driven member 29 which is merely shown diagrammatically and may'take the forintota cup, stirrup or the like. The member Z) of the differential is mounted uponthe princi pal shaft 'withthe use of a feather and feather'wayor key'31,'30 'being the securing nut. 32, is asimilar key or'feather for 'securing the plate m in position on the shaft'. 33 is a spring mounted between a seating on the casing 34 and the plate s, 40 is a sleeve slidable with the plate s, and controlled fromV teeth 36 and 37 the parts f and 40 rotate to- 1 gether, whilst being free to slide with respect to one another.

The general operation is the same as that already described. By placing a band brake or other appropriate brake around the member 36, this member may be locked when the friction plates are disengaged and it is required to drive at half speed as previously explained. l

It will be understood that minor constructions of detail may be introduced without departing from the principle of my inven-v tion. y

What I claim and desire to secure by Let ters Patent of the United States of America l. Change speed and clutching` mechanism of the type in which differential gearing is employed, comprising in combination a driving shaft having xed thereto a disc formed with an annular friction surface, a rotatable disc on said shaft also having an annular' friction surface corresponding to the fixed disc, one half of a friction clutch fixed to said rotatable disc, a second half of a friction clutch slidable but non-rotatable on said shaft, and a driven member formed of a series of members pivoted together having friction surfaces to form a chain belt and adapted to engage the friction surfacesl of both the fixed disc and the rotatable disc, for the purposes set forth.

2. Change speed and clutching mechanism of the type in which differential gearing is employed, comprising in combination, a driving shaft having fixed thereto a disc formed with an annular friction surface, a rotatable disc on said shaft also formed with an annular friction surface corresponding to the fixed-disc, one half of a friction clutch fixed to said rotatable disc, a ysecond half of the friction clutch slidable but not rotatable on said shaft, a spring normally pressing said second half of the clutch into engagement with the first half of the clutch, and a plu` rality of rotatable friction members mounted in links to form a chain and adapted to engage the annular friction surface on both thefixed disc and the rotatable disc.

3. Change speed and clutching mechanism of the type in which differential gearing is employed, comprising in combination a driving shaft havingi'ixed thereto a disc formed with an annular bevelled friction surface, a

rotatable disc on said shaft also formed withv an annular bevelled friction surface, one half of a friction clutch xed toy said rotatable disc, a second half of the friction clutch slidable but non-rotatable on said shaft, a spring normally pressing said second half-of the clutch into engagement with the first half of the clutch, a plurality of links pivoted together to form a chain, each of said links carrying a spindle, a plurality of discs on each of saidspindles arranged together to form a truncated cone and adapted to en- 0tage the annular bevelled friction surfacef both the fixed disc and the rotatable disc'. Al. Change speed and clutching mechanism of the type in which differential gearing. is

employed, comprising in combination a driv ing shaft having fixed thereto a disc formed with an annular friction surface, a rotatabley disc on said shaft also formedwith an annular friction surface plate one half of a friction clutch fixedjto said shaft, a second half of the said friction'plate clutch slidable but non-rotatable on'said shaft, a spring normally pressing said second halfl ofthe clutch into engagement with the firstjhalf of the clutch, adriven member formed with an annulus, a plurality ofrotatable friction members engaging the annular friction surface of both the fixed and the rotatable discs, clutch teeth on said rotatable disc, and a" member having clutch teeth fixed to the second half ofthe friction plate clutch, adapted at appropriate times to engage with the clutch teethon the rotatable disc.

In testimony whereof I vhave hereunto subscribed my nam e oHARLEs HENRY STRONG. 

